Halsted M. Bernard

Menu

Hello What

Halsted M. Bernard is a writer living in Portland, Oregon. Her writing has appeared in Innsmouth Magazine, Map Literary, and Bewildering Stories, and she is a member of literary writing and spoken-word performance group Writers' Bloc. For more about Halsted's publications and performances, please see her "Fiction" page.

Disclaimer

The opinions and views expressed therein are solely my own and not of any organization or employer.

About

Page

About cygnoir.net

cygnoir.net is a personal website and webcam that has existed in some form or another since May 1998. It is written and produced by me, Halsted M. Bernard. It is a place where I write about the things that matter to me.

Why the funny name? Cygnoir is a word I made up many years ago. It is a portmanteau of cygne and noir, the French words for “swan” and “black”, respectively. (It is pronounced /siɲ-nwaʀ’/ while apologizing profusely to la langue française.) The pseudonym and site predate Taleb’s book and Aronofsky’s film, and I have never been a goth or a member of the SCA. I simply love wordplay and Cygnus atratus.

Colophon

If you enjoy what I do here, share it on social media or via email or by tiny porcupine post. Be careful. There are hedgehogs posing as tiny porcupines and they are not to be trusted with the content of this site.
(•ᴥ• )́́'́́’́⻍

Additional Reading

Hey, you made it! So I like lists. (Whaaaat? No.) Here’s a list of facts about me.

Name: My first name comes from Halsted Street in Chicago. My middle name is my paternal family name, and my last is derived from my maternal family name. Confusingly to many, nothing is hyphenated.

Aliases: Friends call me ’Sted. I also answer to Cygnoir, which is often shortened to Cyg. Past aliases include Joey, saranrapture, Carah, and Carinah.

Birthplace: Northwestern Pennsylvania, United States. I say “pop” instead of “soda” or “coke” though I don’t drink it. I also say “expressway” instead of “freeway” and I know the difference between Mennonites and Amish.

Languages: Fluent in English. I was also once so in Italian, Spanish, German, and French, but they’re gone now. I have also dabbled in Esperanto, ASL, Irish Gaelic, and Mandarin. And, yes, okay, Klingon. not yap wa’ Hol!

Education:MLIS with a focus on information management and a specialization in web development and digital archives; BA in the structure and culture of the English language, an individually-designed major that fused sociolinguistics, literary theory, and creative writing.